It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist: the threat is rather to life itself...
- Rachel Carson

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Coastal Squeeze, Humber Estuary.

On Friday we did our first bit of fieldwork for the Ocean and Coastal Processes module that we have to do. We jumped on the coach towards Grimsby and Cleethorpes in order to investigate the effects by comparing both sites. Grimsby docks were created in the 19th century resulting in a two way 'coastal squeeze' with both rising sea levels and a manmade structure. It was actually a very fun day and so good to be out in the open air doing some field work, getting a little muddy and wet along the way (it is all part of the fun).

We had split off into two groups. I didn't fancy getting stuck in the mud (I've done it too many times and I end up falling in, something I didn't want to do) and it was a lovely day (photo opportunity as you shall see later) and so I chose to visit the Cleethorpes site. Here we sampled along a transect across the intertidal zone (1000m in Cleethorpes, 400m in Grimsby). Sampling involved taking four core samples (for infauna) and two sediment samples. This was all simple enough at the strandline (where we started) but as soon as we went into the wetter sand it got increasingly more difficult since it was harder to remove from the cores and we were slowly sinking into the quick-sand like surface.

Standard photo of the muddy wellies

The site at Cleethorpes and the beautiful weather.

I love this photo with the mounds of sands and the pools of water. This was at about 1000m from the strandline.

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About

Hello hello!

22 years of age, aspiring to be a Marine Biologist/Ecologist to help defend those oceans from anthropogenic impacts. This blog is my little escape from the 'real world' I guess, as well as a place I can document my journey.

I know this is a life-long journey, and I can appreciate the dedication that it takes to actually do this, but I am determined. The oceans aren't going to save themselves now, are they?